A Cold Day in Minsk

Sam Malone, the fictional Cheers bartender and owner... in one of my favorite episodes said that the next time he read a book to impress a babe, it would be "A cold day in Minsk."

He said this after reading Leo Tolstoy's massive "War and Peace", to impress Diane Chambers and one of her "snooty" professors.

How does this concern the self proclaimed Sports Doofus?  Well, as part of a ridiculous deal I made with myself a few years back, I try to read at least one "classic" each year.  Over the past few years I have read: "Little Women", "The Count of Monte Cristo", and "Don Quixote".  (and a few others).

Coming in at 1,296 pages, this has got to be close to the longest book I have ever read. (although there a few Stephen King books in that range).

As I have noted many times before, I'm not a book reviewer, or a literary critic... but sometimes I like to talk about books.

Well, what can I say about "War and Peace" other than it's long, like really long?

It's a good book.  It covers a number of Russian families (Most notably the Rostov's and the Bolkonski's), during the early 1800's in Russia.  This is the time in which Napoleon was invading Russia.

It was originally published in 1869, and was of course, originally written in Russian.  The translated version that I read was the "free version" available from Amazon's Kindle store.

Tolstoy rotates back and forth quite a bit in the book between the main characters, and their families, and their lives (in both war and peace time), and the action of the war itself...discussing the generals, and the strategies, and etc, etc...

There's a little bit of everything in the story...death, destruction, love, temptation, adultery, financial trouble, criminal behavior, and basically anything you could imagine happening in a war torn nation.

A couple of thoughts:
1.  I enjoyed the book.
2.  Would I have read it had it not been "free"?  No, I would not have paid for it.
3.  I did gain a sense of "accomplishment" in finishing it.
(after all, it took me pretty much 3 solid months to finish it...day after day after day)
4.  It was NOT an easy book to read.  There are a TON of characters, many of whom disappear for hundreds of pages and then reappear.
5.  Do I recommend it?  If you are a literary type...yes.  If you are just a normal casual reader, probably not.  Just watch one of the several movie versions, if you want to know what it's about.
6.  I am glad to be done.  Whew!  That took forever, and I'm ready to read some books that were written, you know, in this century.

Another Point of Interest:  War and Peace is going to be made into a Television Miniseries by the BBC in the coming year.  So, if you want to know the story without reading the massive tome... it is on it's way.

So while I am glad to be done reading about Pierre, Natasha, Nicholas, Mary, Andrew, Helene, and the rest... I am looking forward to seeing the BBC production, and also to see what they can do with such a massive original work to condense down to 6 episodes.

Farewell Don Quixote

For whatever reason, some years back I determined that it would be a wise course of action for me to pursue reading great works of literary fiction.  I thought reading one "classic" a year would be good for me, and as someone who likes to read, I thought it would be something I'd enjoy.

Well, for the most part this has held true.  I have read a number of "classics" over this period, including:  Catch 22, Slaughterhouse Five, The Count of Monte Cristo, and so on...  I'm not sure if all the "classics" I've read are actually "classics".  For the most part, I have just picked a book that is older than I am and has some acclaim.

And then came Don Quixote.  I'm slightly ashamed to admit that the first two times I tried to read this book, I was unable to do so.  On both occasions I would start it, and then I'd lose motivation, and eventually I just gave up.

However, this time I was confident and motivated.  Last year I had made it through Dumas's "The Count of Monte Cristo" which had also been translated, and was written in another century.  So I figured, "I can read this".

Well, late last night I accomplished my goal.  It took me the better part of 3 months of reading almost every night (it's a terribly long book, 976 pages in Hardcover).  The language is pretty difficult, being that it is translated from a form of Spanish in the early 1600's.  When I was halfway through the book, I became convinced that I would never finish it, and also... that quite possibly it would never end.

However, last night as I finished the final few chapters I found myself sad with the realization that Don Quixote would soon be leaving me.  What  tremendous characters that Cervantes created.  It is sort of sad for me to let "The Knight of the Lions" and his faithful companion Sancho Panza fade away.

If you ever wanted to read Don Quixote, I would recommend it as a great story, with unforgettable characters and adventures.  However, you need to be warned that you need to bring your endurance...your patience will be tested, and ultimately, rewarded.  But it isn't easy reading.

As for me, I'm going to read some lighthearted comedy for a while, probably starting with Michael Ian Black's "You're Not Doing It Right".

Books, Books, and more Books.

For those of you out there who are literary fans, here are some books that I have read lately.

I am currently reading "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand.  Absolutely fantastic book.  The book chronicles the life of Louis Zamperini, who was a famous schoolboy distance runner, made the Olympic team in 1936, and served in WWII and was captured as a POW by the Japanese.  I'm only halfway through this book, and I can guarantee that it will be one of the top two books I've read all year.

Secondly, "Drive" by Daniel Pink.  Really interesting look at motivation.  As a teacher and former coach, I'm always fascinated by what makes one person more "driven" than another.  The book is great and I highly recommend it to anyone in athletics or education.

My wife bought me, "Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely.  It is not a book that I would have purchased for myself, but she bought if for me, since I had enjoyed "Freakonomics".  Ariely is an economist at Duke University (which gave me some pause, just kidding Dukies) and basically studied why people act and do things the way they do.  It was kind of like Freakonomics meets Drive, to be honest.  A lot of stuff on motivation in there.  If you enjoy that kind of thing, it's a good book.

The "classic" that I read this year was "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas.  Each year I try to read a book that is considered a "classic" and although this one took me FOREVER (almost 2 months to finish) it was a really good book.  Actually one of the more enjoyable "classics" that I've read.  I've still got "War and Peace" sitting there on my Kindle, but I think my next classic will be "Don Quixote" by Cervantes.  I've actually started reading this book twice, but I never got very far.  Both times I tried to read it at school for reading time, and I think I just need to download it to the Kindle and read it at home.

Sports Book:  "Born to Run" by Christopher Mcdougal is just an amazing read.  If you are a runner, want to be a runner, or aspire to improve your running, this book is a Must Read.  Very informational, inspiring, and interesting book.  I tore through this book in about 4 days over Christmas Break last year.  I'm thinking I'm going to read it again at the start of the "New Year" so I can hit the ground running.

Lastly, if you are a reader and you don't have a Kindle or an e-reader yet, you really need to get one.  Kindles are now selling for $79.  And no, I'm not paid by Amazon.  The price is great, and the device works awesome.  I love mine.  I'm also intrigued by the Kindle Fire which is basically Amazon's version of the iPad.  But much cheaper.  Although if I was to buy a Kindle Fire it would be primarily used as a web browser, I'll keep my Kindle for reading, thank you very much.

(PS.  Amazon.com... if you guys want to send me some money for all the links... I'd happily accept)

:)